Rescue // Shoto Todoroki x OC Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-Nine

She could feel his gaze on her, even though she wasn't looking at him anymore, and it bothered her. Made her feel irate. Maybe it was the fact that Mina had come over and switched out her empty glass for another, and she was already halfway through it, but she was no longer feeling sorry for herself about anything that happened. 

He'd kissed her. And he regretted it. So what? That wasn't an excuse for Katsumi to glower in a corner and feel sorry for herself. Maybe, if she was brave enough, she could go throw herself in the little dance circle Mina and the other girls had formed in the center of the room. It was the sexy kind of dancing that Katsumi had never found herself particularly good at, but maybe if she tried, she could get on Shoto's nerves that way. 

She didn't have the nerve to do it, but she liked to imagine that it would make him mad. 

He crossed the room over to where Kirishima and Kaminari were talking and started to converse with them about God knows what. Katsumi didn't care. She really didn't. Yet, she couldn't help it as her eyes followed his movements across the room. 

She felt stupid. She felt like some dumb schoolgirl with a silly crush. She'd always internally made fun of those girls back in school, but now she was one of them. Some stupid girl sitting all alone in a bar, pining over a guy who would never want her. She felt stupid. 

Ochaco suddenly plopped down at the table opposite her, and Mina shuffled into the booth next to Katsumi, sandwiching her in. 

"You're glaring," Ochaco said. "Why are you glaring? You never told me how your date went."

"A date?" Mina grinned. "With who? I thought you didn't date!" 

Katsumi sighed and took another long drink from the beverage in front of her, effectively finishing off the glass. She knew she needed to slow down or else she might make a fool of herself, but she didn't mind the way the alcohol muted things. It muted how she felt, and it helped her not be so overwhelmed by the social atmosphere that surrounded her. 

She liked Mina a lot, but she didn't like how much Mina gossiped. And now she was going to be the center of Mina's gossip, thanks to Ochaco's statement. 

"It wasn't a date," Katsumi told her friends. "At least, he didn't think it was. He basically told me he's not interested."

The excited look that Ochaco had on her face disappeared and was replaced by a pensive look. "That doesn't sound right," she said, rubbing her chin. "Are you sure he said that?"

"I'm one hundred percent sure that he's not interested, Ochaco," Katsumi stated. 

"I'm still lost. Who are we talking about?" Mina interjected. Ochaco looked to Katsumi. 

"Can I tell her?" Ochaco asked, giving her a pleading look. "Please let me tell her."

"It's embarrassing enough, but sure, go ahead," Katsumi sighed. She guessed it didn't matter now anyway, since it wasn't going anywhere. She was just going to have to deal with the fact that she had a stupid and unrequited crush. 

"It was Todoroki," Ochaco grinned, looking at Mina, who was practically bouncing in her seat now. Katsumi scooted away from the girl next to her, who seemed way too excited about her failed attempt at dating. 

"Ohmygosh! You and him? Geeze, I didn't see that one coming!" she exclaimed. 

"Please keep it down," Katsumi pleaded, putting a hand on Pinky's leg to still her movements. "Like I said, it didn't go well." 

"But still. He doesn't date. Never has. And neither do you," she stated. "So what brought this about?"

"They kissed," Ochaco told Mina. 

Mina was practically squealing now, drawing the attention of a couple of other classmates. Katsumi sunk down in her seat, trying to ignore the attention their table was getting. "You kissed?! Him and you? Kissed?"

"Jesus, guys, please keep it down," Katsumi begged. "It's not something I want people to know about." 

"So what went wrong on the date?" Ochaco prodded. 

"He literally started by apologizing for kissing me, and said it wouldn't be happening again." Katsumi glanced across the room to where Shoto was and briefly caught his eye. She quickly turned her attention elsewhere, trying to pretend that she hadn't been looking for him in the first place. 

Neither Ochaco nor Mina said anything. And Mina always had something to say. 

Katsumi felt embarrassed. They must have felt bad for her or something, having not said anything. She wasn't usually the type of person to go airing out her problems, and she didn't like it anymore this time than when she'd talked about her feelings in the past. 

Maybe it was the alcohol. That's the only reason she could think that she would even share this, to begin with. Any other day, she would have told Mina to shove off. Maybe not quite so rudely, but still. Katsumi hated the way they were both looking at her now, and she wasn't sure what to say to bring the mood back up again. 

"Let's change the subject," Katsumi finally said. "My love life has never been cause for concern before, so let's just not talk about it." 

The other two girls agreed. Mina then headed off but came back a moment later with another beverage for Katsumi. She then dragged her to her feet, grabbed her arm, and forced her to join the other girls who were still dancing to the music that played in the bar. While the other women danced, Katsumi just stood there, unsure of what to do with herself. Things like dancing had never been her strong suit. 

It was rare that she let herself go enough to do things like dance. There were two halves to that problem; worrying about how people would perceive her stopped her from doing things like that and the second half was that even if she did decide to let go, she worried that people would perceive her difference in behavior and ask her about it. All in all, she just didn't like to be perceived. It was a double-edged sword that she carefully walked on the tip of. 

As the other women danced around her, some of the guys joined in, and Katsumi felt completely uncomfortable and boxed in. She wasn't sure what to do, so she took another few sips of her drink. Mina still held her by the wrist as she danced, making it impossible for Katsumi to escape. 

Suddenly, someone grabbed her other wrist. She whipped her head around just in time for Mina to let go of her other hand and see that Shoto was the one who had grabbed her. He pulled her out of the pack of dancing people and to the edge of the room, and she let him. Regardless of how she felt about him, she was glad not to be on the dance floor anymore. 

"You looked uncomfortable," Shoto said, causing her to turn her attention back to him. She looked into his eyes for a second, trying to figure out what was going through his stupidly pretty head, but couldn't figure anything out, same as always. "Thought I'd give you a hand."

"I was fine," Katsumi grumbled, even though she wasn't. She just didn't want to be stuck here talking to Shoto. She didn't want to cause a scene, though. She still had an eye on Mina and Ochaco from where she stood, and they had their eyes on her as well. She didn't want anyone to be looking at her right now. 

She knew Shoto didn't deserve her attitude, but that didn't stop her. And the alcohol only made it easier for her words to fall from her tongue with ease. 

"You weren't fine," Shoto stated. "You looked miserable." 

"I don't want to be talking to you right now," Katsumi said, shooting him a glare. She leaned back against the wall and finished off the drink in her hand. 

"Why not?" he asked--like he didn't know that he'd rejected her, just days ago. 

"Why the hell do you think?" Katsumi scoffed. Was he going to stand there and act clueless about the whole thing?